LOCATION, location, location. If you have been in the industry for less than five years and live in Europe, you are more likely to be pessimistic than your longer-serving American colleagues.

More than 200 industry leaders, representing business aviation worldwide, took part in our survey sponsored by Global Jet Capital and conducted in partnership with market research and consultancy firm Seefeld Group. The results were presented at our Corporate Jet Investor Miami 2024 conference in November.

The good news is that most people are optimistic about the next three to five years. The average score was 7.5 out of 10. However, where you are based makes a big difference. Europeans are less confident (6.8) compared with colleagues in North America (7.4). Other regions – which included Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa – were visibly more upbeat in their view of business aviation prospects and selected a score of 7.8.

Those in North America believe the future of the industry depends on innovation, while the European emphasis is on environmental concerns.

Worldwide, the ultra-long-range segment generated the highest growth expectations, with 50% of respondents anticipating strong performance, rising to 60% among the most optimistic industry participants. Smaller segments like turboprops and light aircraft saw more modest growth expectations of 21% and 24% respectively.

Flight connectivity, charter services and fractional ownership are expected to exceed performance expectations, according to many respondents. Plus, most agree that business aviation excels in providing operational infrastructure and growing the market. More than 70% of respondents gave positive ratings in these areas.

However, there were doubts about some industry innovations – especially sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), carbon offset programmes and eVTOL initiatives. Many respondents expected below-average performance in these areas.